Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Making Islam illegal -- is it the West's only choice?
Renew America ^ | 2/19/2006 | Warner Todd Huston

Posted on 02/20/2006 7:46:11 AM PST by Dark Skies

When President Bush gave his "axis of evil" speech he went out of his way to make the world understand that it isn't a war with Islam itself that we were joining — and I say joining because the war had been started by the Jihadists decades before. And, in observance to our Western principles, that must be the correct way to view our conflagration with radical Islam.

Let's face facts, it certainly is uncomfortable to a Westerner who has been brought up on tolerance, freedom of religion, and liberty to contemplate a war against an entire religion. But are we approaching a time when Western nations won't have a choice but to target Islam itself in certain ways to keep their own people safe. The best course of action is to make public displays of Islam and certain of its practices illegal in Western nations.

So, the question becomes are we at that time now? Are we fast approaching a time when Mosques will be closed and banned? Have we come to a time when Islamic literature is turned away from our borders? Have the childish and dangerous reactions of Muslims to this cartoon in a Danish newspaper proven that Islam cannot be trusted to be a vital, peaceful, and law-abiding segment of society?

It is looking like yes is the answer to these queries.

We are already approaching this today. In Ontario they have officially outlawed Muslim Sharia law, that law that uses religious precepts to enforce moral and society codes of conduct. And Muslim "family councils" have been stopped where local community groups may supplement Canadian law with their local custom.

Several members of the John Howard administration in Australia have spoken out against Islamic clashes with Western notions of law and societal comportment many times over the last few years.

Recently Howard himself said, "I do think there is this particular complication because there is a fragment which is utterly antagonistic to our kind of society, and that is a difficulty ... You can't find any equivalent in Italian, or Greek, or Lebanese, or Chinese or Baltic immigration to Australia. There is no equivalent of raving on about jihad, but that is the major problem."

Muslims routinely destroy property, threaten death and bodily harm to those who speak out against them, and they constantly fund terrorism throughout the world. In Syria they have burnt an embassy, in Europe Muslims have been responsible for murdering people who have written out against Islam or made movies, and other forms of art. These actions are also approved by Islamic teachers (Imams) and religious leaders, not just undertaken by warped loners claiming to represent Islam quite against the will of the majority or authority.

With this ridiculous cartoon issue, we have seen that Islam has no sense of perspective. In the west parody or satire is seen as not only common, but completely harmless for the most part. And religion is not immune to parody and satire, though even in the west most people are often uncomfortable with religious satire. Usually only people filled with hate attack religion in parody and most in the West instinctively know this. As a result, most people dismiss such parody as foolishness and bad taste.

But with Muslims overreacting — in western eyes at least — to this silly cartoon issue in the way they have, it becomes nearly impossible for Westerners to view Islam as a peaceful religion, but more as a vicious hate group itself. And that perception is justified with the actions that Muslims have increasingly perpetrated over the ensuing years. So, we find that Islam presents a danger to the safety of the populace all too often. It is violent, oppressive, and reactionary.

But, what is to be done about it? We have been raised to feel that religion should be left untouched by government. Freedom of religion is at the very core of our beliefs. And this concept is an important one to uphold. So, how can we honestly and without hypocrisy begin to look toward making Islam illegal?

There is a parallel of sorts in the USA that might be used as a template for action. The Ku klux Klan.

After the Civil War ended, the KKK arose from the ashes of war as an advocacy group for the disenfranchised white voter in the south. But it quickly became a terrorist organization bent on taking out revenge on the south's newly freed black population for having lost the war. It got so bad that even one of the original organizers, C.S. Cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest, denounced the organization and quit it in disgust.

But as the late 1800s rolled on and the south began to re-enter the Union as full partners in government, the KKK began to lose steam and prominence. For a time it subsided. But as the 20th century neared, it re-emerged and this time became a nationwide and powerful force taking on the flavor of religious, civic and racial duty. The KKK became invested in government and claimed millions of members nation wide.

In the 1920s, however, it became too much for a liberty loving country to allow the KKK to any longer exist. In Indiana, the entire state government was scandalized by their fealty to Indiana's Klan leader who had raped and beaten his secretary on a train trip. Violence against and frequent lynching of southern blacks became so pervasive that Congress finally acted and banned the Klan. The organization collapsed never again to reclaim the power and prominence it once had.

Now, the KKK has always based its precepts on Christianity, as well as racial identity. It also reacted with violence, rallies, death threats and killing when it was threatened. It careened far away from being a mere "idea" or religious theology and became a terrorist organization. And it became a terrorist organization even though literally millions of Americans that belonged to or identified with the Klan were not themselves violent, evil, or dangerous citizens.

The leadership of the Klan supported violence. The leadership preached violence. The leadership planned and fomented it. Therefore, it had to go because it became a danger to every law-abiding citizen, whether they agreed with the racial and religious concepts the Klan espoused or not.

Islam has become the KKK of the 21st century. The sooner we awake to this truth and take steps to ban the religion, or somehow curtail its pernicious influence the better. The west is going to have to put sever restrictions on Islamic Mosques and public display of Islam. Further, devout Muslims should not be allowed to hold public office (though it certainly should not become a racial issue — sins of the father should not be visited upon the sons).

This is no religious purge as in centuries past. In the past religions were banned to be replaced by the state sponsored sect and believers of the banned religion were mistreated, tortured, unduly taxed, and terrorized. This is absolutely not the model the west would follow by banning aspects of Islam today. No religion is replacing Islam and no one is suggesting that Muslims be mistreated. But the creed to which they hold is fast becoming the most dangerous one in the world today. It is a fine line that we walk to consider banning Islam, but the safety of society is at risk not to do so.

This is not an easy conclusion at which to arrive. But if we continue to turn a blind eye to the danger that Islam presents to the west, we are signing our own death warrants.

The KKK was put down in the USA and made powerless for the same reason. Communism was destroyed for the same reason, as well. Islam is a danger to the world.

Unfortunately, it is just that simple.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: islam; muslim; sharia; wot; yes
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 1,021-1,030 next last
To: EBH
The first problem with the west is we designated it a religion, when it is actually a form of government called a Theocracy. If we had called a theocratic regime from the start, IMHO the battle would have been much further along and the enemy clearly identified. Right now we're playing catchup with a government masquerading as a religion. We are in a very dangerous position as we begin to turn on this dime, the sects that have infiltrated our free world will come out of the woodwork and into the light of day.

I think this is correct. If Islam is strictly a religion, then banning it would be tantamount to wiping our arses with the Constitution. However, these theocrats will do the wiping for us if we allow it.

The cartoon controversy shows that much (maybe most) of the islamic world simply will not be content to co-exist with the west. They are always going to be trying to overwhelm the west, and as long as they are allowed to freely immigrate, they will not be stopped.

41 posted on 02/20/2006 8:08:25 AM PST by Sans-Culotte (Meadows Place, TX-"Tom DeLay Country")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: mysterio

That's only if we consider Islam to be primarily a religion, which is debatable. I consider it to be primarily a military organization.


42 posted on 02/20/2006 8:08:28 AM PST by thoughtomator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: mysterio
The First Amendment prohibits this.

Yes it does. Even if one believes Islam to be a death cult (as I do), maybe even pure evil (I'm wavering), one still has the right to BE evil. One cannot DO evil. Just as I have the right to BE atheist (which some on FR find as evil as Islam), as long as I do not FORCE others to follow my thinking.

I see this as more of a Second Amendment issue. Why were the rioting Muslims in Europe and Asia allowed to destroy so much property (even take a handful of innocent lives)? We don't need to ban Islam itself. We DO need to make clear to all Muslims that 1) we see through their one-sided intellectual bulls**t, 2) the West values freedom over submission, 3) we are a well-armed populace willing to defend that freedom...

...and 4) back that up, IF necessary.

43 posted on 02/20/2006 8:08:33 AM PST by Freedom_no_exceptions (No actual, intended, or imminent victim = no crime. No exceptions.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: wvobiwan
I'm glad someone sees it my way.

A large part of Islam declared war on the west. However, our concern is catching and killing terrorist crazies. Just because they do it because of their religion does not concern us from a legal standpoint. It has its uses in identification (read: airport security profiling is not a bad thing), but we aren't getting these guys for their relgion; we're getting them because they're the badguys. Why they're the badguys is important, but it doesn't change the necessary response.

We have the military capability to crush anyone. All we need is the will to do it. Take Iran for example. When we go to war with them, they are going to plaster pictures of women and children blown to pieces on the evening news, so be ready for it. We need the resolve to complete the mission in the face of this propaganda, no matter how dire it looks. We cannot allow jihadist crazies to use our own sense of decency against us.
44 posted on 02/20/2006 8:09:12 AM PST by JamesP81
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: boris
The enemy has set the terms of engagement: there are no innocents, no civilians, no non-combatants.

But to the left, fighting an enemy by his own rules is UNFAIR!

45 posted on 02/20/2006 8:09:15 AM PST by JimRed ("Hey, hey, Teddy K., how many girls did you drown today?")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: Auntie Dem

Criminal actions are punishable in this country. Thoughts should not be. Making a religion illegal - even one as idiotic as Islam - is no better than the "hate crime" legislation we so rightly criticize.


46 posted on 02/20/2006 8:09:29 AM PST by steelcurtain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies
Bush's "Religion of Peace" remark has been more than generous to these clowns given the events of 9/11. I suppose he was/is trying not to inflame things anymore than they already were/are while we got our ducks-in-a-row ala the ousting of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the removal of one of the major sponsors of State-Run-Terrorism (Sadaam). In addition, the spilling of American's blood in our attempt to drag Iraq into the the Modern/Western/Democratic camp illustrates how far we will go as opposed to a wholesale 'glass-parking-lot' solution. Important also has been our acquiescence and accomidation in the face of the mass-export of Saudi-trained Wahabbi-nutjob Mullahs.

While the moral implications of having to completely subdue, or wipeout, a billions Muslims is daunting, the followers of the schizophrenic, pedophile-founder of this Cult must be made to understand that our generosity and patience are limited.

47 posted on 02/20/2006 8:09:38 AM PST by DoctorMichael (The Fourth-Estate is a Fifth-Column!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies

All religions have antiquated theory and tenets, Islam is indeed the worst of that bunch.

But like all religions, it also has very timeless values in charity, mercy, fairness, and morality.

The religion is not the point, it's the crazies who in their thirst for power and domination will pervert it and murder in it's name. Kill them, not the religion. Just because it's hard doesn't mean it's not the right thing to do.


48 posted on 02/20/2006 8:10:07 AM PST by wvobiwan (Sheehan for Senator!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: slowhandluke

"We require a loyalty oath for citizenship, which requires support of our constitution."

We do no such thing, except for naturalized citizens. The USA has many, many native born Muslims.


49 posted on 02/20/2006 8:10:58 AM PST by MineralMan (godless atheist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: Join Or Die; Auntie Dem
The Mormon example really isn't a very good one.

The Mormons committed a number of crimes, especially once they were in Utah. They also tried to create a state church in Utah, which was clearly against the Constitution. This is what prompted US military intervention against them, and rightly so.
50 posted on 02/20/2006 8:11:54 AM PST by JamesP81
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Iron Eagle; Austin Willard Wright; Join Or Die; Wormwood

This isn't meant to be a provocative post, but simply a reminder that our Constitution is not perfect and amendments on occasion have been necessary.

The 13th Amendment in particular comes to mind.


51 posted on 02/20/2006 8:12:22 AM PST by Pox
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies
The koran states that the penalty for blasphemy is death.

EXODUS 31:15
“Whoever does ANY work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.”

Newsflash: all religious texts say some pretty dopey things. Doesn't mean we should start bulldozing synagogs.

52 posted on 02/20/2006 8:13:02 AM PST by Wormwood (Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: slowhandluke

Most Muslims in this country don't support Shiara over US law, we can ban a religion on that basis.

We do need to point out that their oath of citizenship will be enforced, their religious oaths will not be officially supported, period.


53 posted on 02/20/2006 8:13:08 AM PST by wvobiwan (Sheehan for Senator!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: mysterio

It does not. Is it legal to promote Satanism and human sacrifice ? Voodoo practices ?


54 posted on 02/20/2006 8:13:30 AM PST by farlander
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies

Islam/Mohammedanism is a Political World Takover by Deadly Force Movement that it is at least on a par with Nazism and Communism. Commmunists, Nazis and Muzzies should be interned during war and deported when it's over.


55 posted on 02/20/2006 8:13:52 AM PST by DoNotDivide (Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dark Skies

Banning Islam the religion is impossible
But Islam was never a religion
It is at best an invading army in disguise
At worst a psychophatic death cult


56 posted on 02/20/2006 8:14:00 AM PST by 1903A3
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: wvobiwan

"We do need to point out that their oath of citizenship will be enforced"

What oath of citizenship? Only naturalized citizens have to take any such oath. Native-born citizens, including Muslims, don't have to take any such oath.


57 posted on 02/20/2006 8:14:24 AM PST by MineralMan (godless atheist)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 53 | View Replies]

To: mysterio

Any moslem, cleric or otherwise, who preaches death and destruction, or who funnels money to terrorist organizations, needs to be brought up on RICO charges.

Forget the religious aspect.

Get these fanatics the way the mob was prosecuted.


58 posted on 02/20/2006 8:14:27 AM PST by texasbluebell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Join Or Die

Do people like me terrify you?


59 posted on 02/20/2006 8:14:29 AM PST by boris (The deadliest weapon of mass destruction in history is a leftist with a word processor.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]

To: Wormwood

It was right to distrust the State under a Clinton administration - times change a little at least.


60 posted on 02/20/2006 8:14:36 AM PST by wvobiwan (Sheehan for Senator!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 1,021-1,030 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson